Batting

PAINESVILLE, OHIO – A strong pitching performance and one big inning in the game one lifted the Lake Erie College baseball team to a 4-1 victory over the University of Findlay to start a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday (April 27) at Braggs Field. The Oilers used a big inning of their own in game two on their way to a 10-3 victory and a split.

Sophomore Russ Hogue (Belle Center, Ohio/Indian Lake) gave the Storm (13-27, 10-17 GLIAC) five solid innings and the bullpen managed to shut the door in the opener. Hogue (2-2) went five innings and allowed just one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out two. Senior Pat Sinko (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) and sophomore Heath Kelley (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) each added a scoreless inning of relief with Kelly striking out the side in the seventh for his second save.

The Storm scored all four of their runs in the fourth inning of game one. Trailing 1-0, senior Patrick Kilway (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) singled to tie the game and sophomore Sean Mathews (Washington, Mich./Warren De La Salle) put the Storm ahead with a two-run single.

Lake Erie added one more run after Mathews was picked off first, but managed to get himself in a rundown before making it safely to second, allowing sophomore Josh Hudeck (Macedonia, Ohio/Trinity/Ashland) to score from third.

Kilway and classmate Cody Blood (Conneaut, Ohio/Conneaut) each had two hits to lead LEC. Victor Migliore drove in Findlay's only run with a third-inning sacrifice fly.

Darrel Thobe (1-3) allowed four runs on six hits in four innings to take the loss.

The Oilers (19-20, 12-16 GLIAC) bounced back quickly in game two, scoring five times in the second. The big blow was a three-run homer to centerfield by Tommy Roush that ended Brad Raley's (Hinckley, Ohio/Highland) starter after just 1 2/3 innings.

Findlay added a run in the third and two in the fifth and seventh. Migliore went three-for-three with two RBI and also walked twice in game two. Blake Schmenk went three-for-three and scored twice while Reid Rothenbuhler also had two hits and drove in two.

Sophomore Aaron Lindgren (Willoughby, Ohio/Willoughby South) doubled and scored on a Kilway single in the third inning for LEC's first run. Mathews added a two-run single, his second hit of the game, in the sixth to make it 8-3.

Blood also had two more hits in game two.

Raley (1-4) struggled with his command, walking five and allowing five runs and four hits in his shortest start of the year. Findlay starter Ethan James (4-4) gave up 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings, but allowed just three runs to score (one earned). He walked one and struck out five.

The two teams wrap up their three-game series with the rubber match Sunday, April 28, at noon.